All those who have an investment in a shopping centre are keen to find ways to get people to develop a positive attitude towards their centre, to keep them coming back for more -developing a bond through the image and 'brand'. It's essential to make the experience of shopping a pleasure for the customer, and to do that, as lighting designers, we have to make the lighting in shops and shopping malls work for them. Nothing else is more important. Knowing what customers like to see and experience is the key to future success.

Variety and interest are essential in order for the building to appeal to the visitor. People have to like what they see, both by day and after dark.

The first thing to take into account is the value of daylight. How much daylight is going to enter the space? And how effective is that daylight going to be in achieving a variety of objectives?

When creating comfortable interior lighting, the daylight component will almost certainly be adequate for part of the day, but it does need to be controlled in order to limit what we call 'solar gain' and 'excessive illuminance'.

The main crossing points or nodes in shopping centres usually contain architectural features as well as information kiosks. They should be used as focal points as they will form a hub and a natural meeting place. Lighting in these areas needs to be attractive, particularly on vertical elements, such as sculptures and water features, which are intended to be eye-catching and appealing.

The visible structural components of the building are usually important architectural elements and should remain pure in order to express form. Hence, lighting equipment should be integrated so as not to detract from the structure's overall appearance.

As in all other retail lighting design situations, avoiding a bland appearance is vital. The higher the level of sophistication of the environment, the more likely it is that there will be an option to control the ratio of accent to ambient lighting. This approach is important in order that the appearance has balance and interest, with detail and design being visible and accentuated. In other words, identified focal points should be given a visual hierarchy in lighting design.

This leads on to the following consideration - where should the light fall and how should the balance of luminance be maintained? While safety of circulation is a key requirement, the appearance of the shop windows and their attractiveness to passers-by is the other top priority. To achieve both of these requirements, the floor in the shopping mall should be suitably illuminated and yet not excessively. This ensures that the light does not reduce the visibility of the displays within the shop windows. Light levels on walkways can be as low as 20-50 lux and still be entirely adequate.

One element of the design of lighting in a shopping mall that's frequently overlooked is the movement of people. If there's low uniformity on the heads of people they will be seen to be walking in and out of the beams of light, which will accentuate the movement. This aspect can be used to advantage in less busy areas such as passageways leading from car parks or restroom areas. The movement of people should be visible as it adds to the subconscious impression of activity and can act as a deterrent to loiterers.

In addition, we must not overlook the fact that the subject of lighting control is highly relevant in shopping centre lighting. One of the most important considerations is to programme the lighting in such a way that it will have suitable flexibility, in terms of the designed light scenes, which should be easy to recall.

The light scenes should be programmed to occur at different times of the day and different seasons of the year, including festive periods. Controlling the lighting through photocells, timers and even presence detectors makes the installation efficient. This will also be a benefit to the owners through the extended maintenance regime that will result.

If all the shareholders, especially the tenants, are to be entirely happy with the lighting design, shop fronts have to glow. It will follow that the 'brand' and image that the shopping centre creates, in the minds of the public, will be positive, memorable, entirely enjoyable and, as a result, bring in 'loads of money'.

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